Two resignation letters, one theme: Johnson must go
It can only be described as a damning judgment.
“I can, no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this government. I am instinctively a team player, but the British people rightly expect integrity from their government.”
So wrote Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, in one of the most powerful resignation statements written by an outgoing cabinet minister that placed his decision to go squarely on the character of the prime minister, Boris Johnson.
Nine minutes later, Rishi Sunak, resigned as chancellor with a similar message. “The public expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,” he wrote, implying that under the current prime minister none of the three apply.
“I recognise that this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning,” added Sunak, his letter written like Javid’s on the Commons constituency paper that reflects their self-imposed backbench status.
These are not policy disagreements of the type that famously forced Geoffrey Howe from office in November 1990, when the issue was Europe. They are a judgment, made by close colleagues, from which Johnson cannot easily wriggle free – and which opposition parties can repeat as long as he remains in No 10.
Yet neither Javid or Sunak spelled out what had brought them to this point. Neither refers directly to Partygate, the row about the refurbishment of the Downing St flat – or even statements that Johnson did know about complaints of alleged groping by Chris Pincher.
But they did not need to. “The tone you set as a leader, and the values you represent, reflect on your colleagues, your party and ultimately the country,” Javid continued, pressing home the point in a
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